The Rise and Fall of the Dark One or A Cat and a Snake Go Hunting
by M.A. Little
Summary: A full and mostly unaltered retelling of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and beyond! Follow Katherine and David as they show you the other side of things. The Golden Trio may be heroes, but some heroes don't need recognition. Further explanation inside. The beautiful and wonderful Miss J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and his Universe. I do not own any of it. Thank you.


This, my fellow Potterheads and readers alike, is a version of the events of the Harry Potter Universe starting with the beginning of Year 5. This story will follow my two OCs, Katherine and David, as they show you the other side of things. Mind you, they still have their adventures and turmoil, but will rarely actually cross paths with the original Trio. For now, that's about all you need to know! Thank you for picking my story, and hope you enjoy Chapter 1.

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><p>"Did you hear? Harry Potter is claiming he was the one who killed Cedric!" "That's absurd, everyone knows You-Know-Who's dead. I heard that he's just looking for more attention." "Yea, I heard Dumbledore is looking for an excuse to take the Minister's job, that's why he made the announcement." "Oh rubbish, I heard it was a freak accident, and Dumbledore finally cracked."<p>

The Hogwarts Express was abuzz with countless conspiracy theories and outrageous claims to what had transpired the school year before. Every compartment filled with overzealous witches and wizards arguing back and forth, every one of them seemingly always falling on to the same topics: Was Harry Potter a lying, fame starved boy, was Dumbledore really after the Minister of Magic job, and what really happened to Cedric Diggory, the sixth year Hufflepuff and chosen Hogwarts Champion.

Despite all of the noise and crazed lunacy going on around her, Katherine Bellerose had managed to find her nose in the latest issue of the Daily Prophet, skimming through individual articles for anything interesting, occasionally running a pale slender hand through her very contrasting dark hair.

Sitting next to her in the compartment was the only friend she could confidently say she had had since year one of Hogwarts, David Hartnell. David had dark hair with deep blue eyes and a rather broad athlete build. Though he lacked in height, he was not lacking in looks, which was made all the more wasted as he seemed to not care about attention.

David had befriended her as they waited for their names to be called for sorting. Neither seemed very enthused. While Katherine was twiddling her thumbs and worrying, David simply stood there next to her, whispering jokes to her. She knew he was not enjoying having to talk to a stranger, but he was doing it to keep her from panicking. He was able to keep her calm enough to make each other's acquaintances that sparked their friendship. It was a bittersweet reprise as the sorting came first to Katherine, then to David. Being sorted was not nearly as dreadful as she had imagined. What was the dreadful part was watching her newest friend sit down at the Slytherin table, as she was ushered to the Ravenclaw's.

What was odd about the duo was not the clear differences in houses, but how they managed to, despite all the protests from their respective houses, stay so close. Six years later and there they sat, same compartment as always, on the same train as every year, following the same path to the same castle. But this year was slightly different. Every school year, since Katherine's second year, had begun and ended with one Harry Potter and his exploits. This year, she had not even made it to the Great Hall before it had happened. With a stroke of luck, it would be all she would hear of the Potter kid.

As the sky's darkened, Katherine was finally lifted from her trance by a tickling in her ear. She swatted it away once, twice, but the third time she turned and saw a laughing David with his wand, probing her ear.

"I swear if you don't stop, I'll do far worse to your ears" Katherine said, stressing the 'your', with a dark look. "Perhaps you'd look better with ass's ears." The boy's face changed rapidly to a look of fear, until he heard her laughter at his reaction. He rubbed the back of his head with a cautious chuckle, and put his wand away.

"Now that I have your attention, what do you make of all this You-Know-Who talk? I mean, do we believe the poor chap, or listen to the Ministry?" Katherine tilted her head and thought for a few moments before responding with an undignified, "I d'know". "Wow, shocking, a Ravenclaw with no idea haha Oomph." Just as he had begun to laugh, Katherine punched him in the arm, prompting a snide remark along the lines of "un-ladylike".

"Look, from what we saw last year, the kid was telling the truth, and I don't think Dumbledore would tell us something so…", she droned off a moment as she thought of a word, "shocking without any facts, you know? I know the minister says not to believe it, it's not possible, but still…" As she finished her answer, furrowing her brow in concentration, David decided he'd put his two cents in.

"You know Kat, from what I heard in the common room last year, a lot of Slytherin don't seem all that surprised by either reactions. I'd wager several of them know a thing or two about mummy and daddy's old pal."

As the train came to a halt, and students began filing out onto the platform, the first years being ushered together by Professor Grubbly-Plank, Katherine and David found themselves heading towards the horseless carriages to take them up to the school. 'I do not envy those poor kids' she thought, watching the first years pile into the boats to cross the lake. It had felt so long ago since she was the little one being boated across the lake. It had been raining that evening, and colder than usual, so the ride was almost unbearably miserable. 'Great way to start off the year I suppose. Weird, I thought Grubbly-Plank retired,' Katherine thought to herself, as she stared out the carriage window, resting her chin on her hand. It did seem rather odd that Hagrid would be missing from his duties, but Dumbledore was bound to explain.

"Hey, do you guys mind if we hop in?" a third year hufflepuff asked with a couple buddies. "Oh of course not, so long as you don't mind a Slytherin, though I guess I could hex you guys, I do have a reputation to uphold." David stated with an odd gleam in his eye. "Oh he's just talking nonsense; you're more than welcome to squeeze in. Besides I have a faster draw." the young Ravenclaw had audibly whispered the last part with a wink.

While rather cramped, the carriage ride up to the castle was rather pleasant. It turned out the Hufflepuff's names were Peter, Jon, and Will. The third year was obviously the ringleader of the group, and not too shy, however his friends talked quietly to themselves, leaving David and Katherine to themselves. "I really should have thought of it sooner!" David said rather too energetically, startling one of the Hufflepuffs. "Thought of what exactly?" Katherine enquired, with a lot less enthusiasm. "Well, you know who would probably have some ideas about…"he began glancing over to the now silent youngsters. He leaned over to whisper into his friend's ear, "the You-Know-Who business?"

"And who might that be?" she whispered back, truthfully curious. "Our own favorite Hufflepuff! You know she's an auror now, granted a clumsy one, haha" was his response. Had she really thought about it, Katherine knew exactly who he would bring up. "Shh, we have guests!" she whispered to him, reminding him to keep quiet. "Eavesdroppers who might just misconstrue some things, understand?"

With some grumbling, and rather unnecessarily glowering looks at the three youngsters, David slouched down in his seat. The ride to the castle continued on quietly, with the occasional giggle breaking the silence.

As the carriages came to a rough stop, the Hufflepuff gang hopped out quickly, Will offering a small thanks and nod to Katherine for her kindness before rushing off towards the entrance. Katherine climbed out slowly first, followed closely by David. They made their way up the slippery stone stairs towards the now opened large doors with a waiting Professor McGonagall standing in the opening. The old head of Gryffindor gave them a nod and offered a welcome as the duo passed through towards the sounds of the start-of-term feast.

The Great Hall looked as splendid as ever, with the floating candles, and ceiling enchanted to mimic the outside sky, though the tremendous downpour and lightening made for a less welcoming feel. Four large, long dining tables were placed side by side in the middle, with one last, large table laid out on the opposite end perpendicular to the others, each table filling up with students separating into their respective houses as several of the teachers found their way to the front table. It would only be a matter of time before Grubbly-Plank marched in followed closely by scared and excited, soon to be sorted, first years.

Katherine said her goodbye to her very best friend and found a seat at the Ravenclaw table. She was quickly swallowed by the hustle and bustle of the table, all the chatting and light-hearted laughter ringing out around her. The seat next to her remained empty until another sixth year girl sat next to her, the unmistakable raven hair and beautiful face snapping Iris out of the conversation she had been having. Cho Chang, arguably one of the most beautiful and popular girls of all of Hogwarts, easily commanded everyone's attention around her. Today was different however, her face looked somber. Even her unusually bright eyes had seemed duller. Rather too quickly, the small chatting group's attention found its way onto Cho, who could clearly go without. Everything that was said was directed towards Cho, and every inquisition always included Cedric Diggory, her now deceased boyfriend. Katherine had never really been a close friend to Cho, but none the less, she deserved peace.

She nudged Cho, and with a small wink and smile quietly asked, "would ya mind if I stole the show from you?" At the request, Cho looked at Iris and smiled a genuine, small and weak but genuine, smile and nodded. "Thank you."

With another wink, she pulled from her pocket what appeared to be a small candy with an interesting "W" imprinted on it. Cho watched as Katherine let it slide down her leg and off her foot, and under the table. Cho lost sight of the piece until she heard an odd popping sound. In less than a second, a mass of the round candies littered the floor, drawing everyone's attention to the continuously multiplying candies until "POP". Everyone was hit with a concussive force as all of the candies popped simultaneously, deafening everyone and drawing a stir from a few teachers.

"That'll keep everyone occupied for a bit. Weasley's Popping Posies. Have to admit, terrible name, but they work as advertised," said Katherine to Cho with another heartwarming smile. "I'm sure you'd prefer a peaceful meal." And with that, Katherine slipped out of her chair with her head ducked down in order to find a spot away from the mass hysteria that had engulfed the back half of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor tables. As she slithered past a couple of second year Ravenclaws, she noticed in-between all of the heads her best friend smiling and shaking his head at her. A blush formed on her cheeks as she put her finger to her lips, knowing that whether she told him to keep quiet or not, he would never tell. Though, he would definitely hold it over her head until she pulled another stunt.

"Now, students, students", Dumbledore began from the podium in the front of the Great Hall to no avail. He placed his wand to his throat and began again, "SILENCE." The Headmaster cleared his throat as if surprised he was so loud. "Thank you. Now, I'm not entirely sure who may have decided this was a good time for a prank, however I do not believe the new students should be welcomed in with a display until after they are sorted." The piercing eyes clearly falling on the now infamous twins of Gryffindor. It was not all that surprising to Katherine that Fred and George would be looked at as the cause of the disturbance. "Now, if you would all take your seats, we will begin the sorting." Dumblerdore then turned a kind gaze to Professor McGonagall, who produced the shabby Sorting Hat and her list of first years.

The Sorting Hat seemed to rip at the seam as it roared to life for his annual song. This year, however, the hat seemed much more animated. It seemed to be much more forewarning. The Sorting Hat began, "In times of old, when I was new, and Hogwarts barely started, the founders of our noble school thought never to be parted. United by a common goal, they had the selfsame yearning to make the world's best magic school and pass along their learning…" Katherine perked up a bit, hearing this very interesting twist to its usual song. The more it sang, the more Katherine felt as though he were warning the students.

When the sorting hat finished his song, and the slight applause stopped, Professor McGonagall began the sorting.

As entertaining as watching the sorting was, Katherine simply rested her chin on her hand, gazing off into space. Her mind had drifted off until, rather shockingly, one of the new first year Ravenclaws plopped down in the chair on her right.

The initial thud of the poor kid sitting down was not what had awoken her, it was the following crash of all the Ravenclaws who could reach coming over to congratulate the kid. Katherine turned rather slowly, and then let her head drop until her eyes found the center of attention. The little girl, who's school robe looked a tad too big for her tiny frame, had a bob of red hair, easily mistakable for a Weasley, and swollen, red eyes. "Hey." Katherine said as she nudged the little girl. "You know, it's okay to have been scared. I cried when I was sorted too. I was so nervous I almost sat at the wrong table. But, Ravenclaw is a pretty awesome house to be in. I'll be around if you need some help. My name's Katherine, what's yours?" "Amelia" said the girl in a rather high pitched whisper. "Amelia's a fantastic name. Nice to meet you."

"Watch the table carefully, you're in for a delight." A smile crept onto Amelia's quaint face, as she turned her head towards the table enthusiastically, just in time to see the feast appear. The shocked look that took hold of the tiny girl made Katherine chuckle. "You know I heard it's house elves who make the food. A certain painting, if stroked right, will let you in the kitchen, or so I've been told. Wanna see it sometime?" asked the older one, letting her brightest smile shine through. With a chuckle, the young Amelia agreed.

As the opening feast ended and Amelia polished off her juice, Katherine nudged her a little and pointed towards the Professors table, explaining who was who.

She started by pointing out the replacement gamekeeper. "There's Professor Grubbly-Plank, though she was retired. Our usual gameskeeper and magical creatures professor is Hagrid. Big brute lookin' fellow, though he wouldn't hurt a fly. A big softy." Katherine laughed as Amelia smiled about it.

As she was winding through them all, Amelia pointed at a stout, very much toad-like lady covered in pink from head to toe. "Who's that?" she asked. Katherine was wondering too, though she had her suspicions.

"Good question. She's as new as you are here," Katherine stated with a chuckle, "I'm gonna guess she's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. They say the position is cursed. We've had a new one every year I've been here."

As supper progressed, Amelia began fidgeting, poking at her plate before dropping her fork and turning quickly towards the older girl.

"Is it true?" she asked. "Is what true, dear?" responded Katherine, amused at the little girl.

"Is it true Harry Potter is here?" The little girl seemed both apprehensive and overly eager, if it were possible. Katherine sighed, knowing such a question was bound to come from the younger ones. With another smile she answered with a point, "he's right over there, Gryffindor table, next to the bushy haired girl and red head. And before you ask, yes, he has the scar."

Little Amelia stared in awe at the messy haired teen, her jaw hung open as though it weighed too much for her.

As the feast was finished up, Dumbledore rose from his chair, in the middle of the staff table, and walked to the podium. "Now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast," began the Headmaster. He started up his start-of-term speech, which consisted of reminding students that the Forbidden Forest was, in fact, forbidden, as well as that Filch, the caretaker, had an extensive list of banned things.

As he was starting on Quidditch tryouts, Dumbledore stopped mid-sentence, looking towards the new professor, who he had introduced as Umbridge. With an audible, "_hem_, _hem_", Umbridge stood and took the floor. Everyone in the hall seemed shocked by her interruption. Near every student sat wide eyed, looking between Dumbledore to Umbridge and back, waiting for a reaction.

"Thank you Headmaster," began the toad-like pink ball, as she began her over-joyous introductions. Katherine heard snickering from the Gryffindor table, which turned out to be Lavender and Parvati. With another "hem, hem", the new pink professor continued, though much more monotonous and robotic. Katherine could not be bothered with what she was spewing from her mouth, as she went back to laying her head in her hand and daydreaming.

When Umbridge finally sat down, Dumbledore's clapping was all that filled the Great Hall. Dumbledore thanked the new professor before continuing his speech about quidditch tryouts. Katherine snapped back into reality after the Hall erupted into noise of students leaving. She gathered herself, took a deep breath, and got up from the table in no particular hurry. She would get to the common room eventually. She loved walking through Hogwarts now more than she ever had before. There was something truly mystifying in the old castle that had only started to captivate her as she aged. The Ravenclaw in her found the history fascinating and the school was full of it. If not for Peeves the Poltergeist, the school would be heaven. 'Even with Peeves, this school is heaven,' thought Katherine.

As she made her way through the castle, watching as each straggling student found the right direction for their common rooms, Katherine continued her leisurely stroll. It was against rules to be wandering after dark, however she had never caused a problem, so she was never reprimanded for getting caught. The one time Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin and Potions Master, had caught her, she had managed to convince Professor Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw house and Charms professor, that he had given her permission to stay late in the library earlier in the day.

"psst, hey, Katherine. Over here," someone whispered from behind a statue. "Best hurry, don't want detention do we?" David smiled for what felt like the millionth time. She recognized that voice and half sprinted over to the statue, making a lot more noise than necessary. "Oi, you tryin' to get us in trouble?" Katherine half yelled at him in obvious mock.

When she looked down at what he was holding, she gasped a little. "How did you? No, no, I don't want to know. But you had better not let him find out. I won't be covering for you this time! You'll get us expelled." "Oh come now, where's your sense of fun? I mean, it's not every day a professor's toy falls in your lap." At this he clicked open the small object, very reminiscent of a silver lighter without a flame. "You don't suppose it's supposed to do anything, do you?" asked Katherine in a very nonchalant tone. David clicked the device a few more times before shrugging his shoulders and placing it in his pocket. "I guess it's no fun if it's broke, huh? I'll return it tomorrow."

The duo spent almost a half hour walking and talking before they said their goodbyes once more and headed off to their respective dorms, David towards the dungeons while Katherine headed towards Ravenclaw Tower.

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><p>Thank you all for getting through chapter 1! While it was long winded, you can rest assured that most chapters will, most of the time, not reach such lengths. I prefer shorter, and I'm sure many of you do too. With that, thank you for reading the beginning of a new adventure in Hogwarts! Thanks again for reading, and may peace find you even in darkest night.<p> 


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